The effects of vision intervention as a motivational strategy on studets motivation and classroom behaviors

Tesis (Profesor de Inglés para la Enseñanza Básica y Media, Licenciado en Educación)In the field of second language (L2) education, motivation plays a crucial role for both teaching and learning contexts. Different motivational strategies have been investigated to examine their effectiveness on increasing students’ motivation in the classroom. According to the L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009b), learners’ future self-images (vision) can determine and sustain learners’ motivation. However, there is limited empirical evidence showing the relationship between students’ motivational levels and actual motivated behavior. The present study aims to examine the role that vision plays in motivating students and the possible changes that it may exert in their actual motivated behavior. The participants were 50 EFL university-level students in Chile, who were assigned to two groups, experimental (EX) and control (CN). The treatment involved a series of classroom activities designed to tap into learners’ vision, over a 6-week period; the control group received the intervention without the vision components. In order to collect data, three instruments were used. The motivational questionnaire was applied prior and after the intervention. Moreover, behavioral data (i.e., teacher-centered and group-work activities) was obtained before and after the intervention, using the number of words and turns in the L1 and L2 produced by the participants. Furthermore, exit interviews were conducted to examine the learners’ L2MSS. Findings showed that the vision intervention positively affected participants’ Ideal L2 Self. Most importantly, the current study provided observational evidence that there is a positive relationship among the use of vision as a motivational strategy, students’ motivational levels, and their actual classroom behaviorsEn el área de la adquisición de segundas lenguas, la motivación tiene un papel muy importante en la enseñanza y en el contexto del aprendizaje. Distintas estrategias de motivación han sido investigadas para probar su efectividad en los estudiantes dentro de la sala de clases. De acuerdo a L2 Motivational Self System (L2MSS) (Dörnyei, 2005, 2009b), las imágenes futuras de los mismos estudiantes pueden determinar y mantener la motivación de estos. Sin embargo, hay poca evidencia empírica que demuestre la relación entre el nivel de motivación de los estudiantes y su real comportamiento en clases. El presente estudio tiene como objetivo examinar el rol de la visualización en la motivación de los estudiantes y qué tipo de cambios tiene el comportamiento de estos. El estudio constó de 50 participantes los cuales eran estudiantes universitarios que cursan la asignatura de Inglés como lengua extranjera en Chile, quienes fueron divididos en dos grupos, uno experimental y uno de control. La intervención en el grupo experimental constó con el uso de visión como una estrategia de motivación en horas de clases durante un periodo de 6 semanas; el grupo de control recibió la intervención pero sin la implementación de visión. Para la recopilación de datos, se utilizaron tres instrumentos. El cuestionario de motivación fue aplicado previo y posterior a la intervención para obtener dos puntos de recolección de datos. Por otra parte, los datos para analizar el comportamiento de los estudiantes fueron obtenidos antes y después de la intervención, usando el número de palabras y turnos producidos en L1 y L2 durante las actividades centradas en el profesor y en los alumnos. Los hallazgos mostraron que la intervención afectó positivamente el Ideal L2 Self de los estudiantes. Más importante aún, el estudio proporcionó evidencia observacional de que hay una relación positiva entre el uso de la visión como estrategia motivacional, niveles de motivación en los estudiantes y su actual comportamiento dentro de la sala de clase

Exploring the Use of Washington Group Questions to Identify People with Clinical Impairments Who Need Services including Assistive Products: Results from Five Population-Based Surveys.

This study analyses the use of the self-reported Washington Group (WG) question sets as a first stage screening to identify people with clinical impairments, service and assistive product (AP) referral needs using different cut-off levels in four functional domains (vision, hearing, mobility and cognition). Secondary data analysis was undertaken using population-based survey data from five countries, including one national survey (The Gambia) and four regional/district surveys (Cameroon, Chile, India and Turkey). In total 19,951 participants were sampled (range 538-9188 in individual studies). The WG question sets on functioning were completed for all participants alongside clinical impairment assessments/questionnaires. Using the WG "some/worse difficulty" cut-off identified people with mild/worse impairments with variable sensitivity (44-79%) and specificity (73-92%) in three of the domains. At least 64% and 60% of people with mild/worse impairments who required referral for surgical/medical and rehabilitation/AP services, respectively, self-reported "some/worse difficulty", and much fewer reported "a lot/worse difficulty." For moderate/worse impairment, both screening cut-offs improved identification of service/AP need, but a smaller proportion of people with need were identified. In conclusion, WG questions could be used as a first-stage screening option to identify people with impairment and referral needs, but only with moderate sensitivity and specificity

Big data and understanding change in the context of planning transport systems

This paper considers the implications of so-called ‘big data’ for the analysis, modelling and planning of transport systems. The primary conceptual focus is on the needs of the practical context of medium-term planning and decision-making, from which perspective the paper seeks to achieve three goals: (i) to try to identify what is truly ‘special’ about big data; (ii) to provoke debate on the future relationship between transport planning and big data; and (iii) to try to identify promising themes for research and application. Differences in the information that can be derived from the data compared to more traditional surveys are discussed, and the respects in which they may impact on the role of models in supporting transport planning and decision-making are identified. It is argued that, over time, changes to the nature of data may lead to significant differences in both modelling approaches and in the expectations placed upon them. Furthermore, it is suggested that the potential widespread availability of data to commercial actors and travellers will affect the performance of the transport systems themselves, which might be expected to have knock-on effects for planning functions. We conclude by proposing a series of research challenges that we believe need to be addressed and warn against adaptations based on minimising change from the status quo

Efectos de los esquemas regulatorios en la innovación: el caso del transporte público urbano de buses en Santiago

Innovation is starting to play an important role in the provision of urban public bus transport. This paper analyses the implications of different contractual interactions, on both technological (i.e., vehicles and infrastructure) and service operation innovation, in private and public procurement of urban bus services in Santiago, Chile. Our findings indicate that the contractual framework firmly determines the degree of innovation present in the industry. In particular, limited regulation incentivises strong service operation innovation, while showing negative vehicle innovation. On the other hand, gross cost and fixed payment contracts lead to negative service operation innovation by operators, motivated mainly by cost reduction efforts.La innovación está comenzando a tomar un rol importante en la provisión de servicios urbanos de transporte público. Este artículo se enfoca en determinar las implicancias de diferentes interacciones contractuales en la innovación tecnológica (en vehículos e infraestructura) y de operación del servicio para las reformas implementadas en Santiago de Chile. Nuestros resultados indican que el régimen contractual determina el grado de innovación presente en la industria. Una regulación limitada incentiva innovación en la operación del servicio, mientras que exhibe una innovación vehicular negativa. Por otra parte, los contratos de pago fijo o por costo bruto incentivan innovaciones negativas en operación del servicio, motivadas principalmente por esfuerzos para reducir costos por parte del operador

Dilemas éticos y profesionales del periodismo económico actual

This paper examines the laws that regulate the dissemination of financial news and the relationship between journalists and attractive companies in the United States and Europe. It presents case studies of past violations of the law by the media and business journalists along with the safeguards employed by prestigious newspapers such as The Wall Street Journal and the Financial Times to prevent similar infractions in the future. This analysis of paradigmatic cases of ethical infractions in financial journalism, the formulas designed to prevent them, and the financial laws that regulate journalists� work attempts to generate a document that will aid the Chilean media in creating its own code of ethics for approaching financial and economic news.Este trabajo analiza las leyes que regulan la difusión de informaciones económicas y la relación entre los periodistas y las empresas cotizadas en Estados Unidos y Europa; presenta un estudio de casos de infracciones protagonizadas por medios y periodistas de negocios; y detalla los resguardos tomados por cabeceras como The Wall Street Journal y Financial Times para evitar faltas similares en el futuro. El análisis de casos paradigmáticos de violaciones a la ética, de las fórmulas diseñadas para prevenirlas y combatirlas, y de las leyes financieras que empiezan a supervisar y acotar el trabajo de los redactores, tiene por objetivo generar un documento que sirva de referencia para la creación de códigos deontológicos de parte de los medios de comunicación chilenos que aborden específicamente el tratamiento de las noticias económicas

Extended Methodology for the Estimation of a Zonal Origin-Destination Matrix: A Planning Software Application Based on Smartcard Trip Data

A key planning consideration when designing transit services is the projected demand on each route, as this is a necessary input to determine frequencies and vehicle capacities. Predicting demand changes in complex networks requires a thorough modelling of the public transport system and its users’ decisions. Aiming to help in this process, a new transit planning tool (STEPTRANS) is being developed, seeking to predict the reactions of public transport users to network changes, allowing better design and operation of the transport system. This tool needs a reliable origin-destination (O-D) matrix for the city of interest, which is assigned to the transit network, using state of practice route choice models. This work presents an extension of the former methodology implemented in STEPTRANS, which allows a zonal O-D matrix for a city to be estimated, given a stop-to-stop matrix obtained from smartcard trip data. The methodology and extension were applied to estimate models and O-D matrices for Santiago de Chile’s integrated transit system, Transantiago. The extension focuses on three improvements: (1) addressing data limitations by using the latest large scale O-D survey available for Santiago; (2) updating the zonal system, including a new methodology for access links construction; and (3) enhancing the model formulation, incorporating trip pattern corrections and reformulating cost measures using route choice models. The inclusion of the resulting matrices in STEPTRANS will allow the evaluation of major changes to the transport system, as a zonal O-D matrix allows modelled users to choose their initial and final stops

Psicooncología del cancer de mama

PsicólogaLa Psicooncología se desarrolla desde la década del 60 como un intento de concebir, estudiar y tratar el cáncer desde una perspectiva diferente, integrando los conocimientos desarrollados desde distintas ramas de la ciencia como la medicina oncológica, la fisiología, la psicología de la salud, la psicología experimental y la psiquiatría. La psicooncología es una disciplina poco conocida en nuestro país, destacándose las publicaciones e investigaciones de profesionales individuales, como por ejemplo el desarrollo teórico-práctico en psicooncología clínica y presentaciones en congresos de la psicooncóloga Jennifer Middleton, en el área del tratamiento psicológico de las patologías oncológicas. En la actualidad se observa un número creciente de investigaciones nacionales e internacionales en la temática de los factores psicológicos asociados a la predisposición, padecimiento y tratamiento del cáncer de mama. Sin embargo, este desarrollo de la disciplina psicooncológica guiado principalmente por la investigación, carece a la fecha de una teoría integradora que permita ofrecer un marco conceptual común. En virtud de ello, la presente investigación se propone contribuir al desarrollo de esta disciplina proporcionando una sistematización de los principales conocimientos disponibles desde una mirada multidisciplinaria, crítica e integradora Ya que su finalidad es la de una revisión crítica e integrativa de los hallazgos publicados en psicooncología del cáncer mamario, la presente es una investigación de carácter bibliográfico que pretende abarcar una gran cantidad de aspectos del fenómeno y de fuentes disciplinarias de investigación y teorización

A zonal inference model based on observed smart-card transactions for Santiago de Chile

The collection of origin–destination data for a city is an important but often costly task. This way, there is a need to develop more efficient and inexpensive methods of collecting information about citizens’ travel patterns. In this line, this paper presents a generic methodology that allows to infer the origin and destination zones for an observed trip between two public transport stops (i.e., bus stops or metro stations) using socio-economic, land use, and network information. The proposed zonal inference model follows a disaggregated Logit approach including size variables. The model enables the estimation of a zonal origin–destination matrix for a city, if trip information passively collected by a smart-card payment system is available (in form of a stop-to-stop matrix). The methodology is applied to the Santiago de Chile’s morning peak period, with the purpose of serving as input for a public transport planning computational tool. To estimate the model, information was gathered from different sources and processed into a unified framework; data included a survey conducted at public transport stops, land use information, and a stop-to-stop trip matrix. Additionally, a zonal system with 1176 zones was constructed for the city, including the definition of its access links and associated distances. Our results shows that, ceteris paribus, zones with high numbers of housing units have higher probabilities of being the origin of a morning peak trip. Likewise, health facilities, educational, residential, commercial, and offices centres have significant attraction powers during this period. In this sense, our model manages to capture the expected effects of land use on trip generation and attraction. This study has numerous policy implications, as the information obtained can be used to predict the impacts of changes in the public transport network (such as extending routes, relocating their stops, designing new routes or changing the fare structure). Further research is needed to improve the zonal inference formulation and origin–destination matrix estimation, mainly by including better cost measures, and dealing with survey and data limitations